Piling machine



A. G. DELANY FILING MACHINE Nov. 21, 1933.

Filed May 1, 1951 um mm x *7 3? mm Nm w o w NW n H l ml \1 1 ww .3 v}? KMN mfimw Nw MN m N N \N EWUW? 1 I UmWHwHwwnH mwuwwnw wwwfibli INVENTOR Patented Nov. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES FILING MACHINE Albanus Groome Delany, Alabama City, Ala., as-

Signor to Gulf States ration of Delaware Steel ompany, a COI'PO- Application May 1, 1931. Serial No. 534,434

6 Claims.

My invention relates to-machines for piling sheets-ofmetal and more particularly to machines which pile sheets so that their side edges are in alignment in order that the pile may be '5 lifted by a crane employing lifting hooks having relatively short fingers for engagement under the pile Another object of my invention is to provid a machinewhich is adapted to be' adjusted to receive various sizes of sheets.

'A further object of my invention is to provide means adapted to permit sheets of slightly ununiform size to be arranged into a substantially uniform pile. 5 v 7 .Another object of my invention is to provide aligning heads which act simultaneously from each end of the machine to align the sheets in apile. p

Metal sheetsor plates as rolled in rolling mills are usually handled individually and are piledup roughly fiatwise and require extra labor when piled to present uniform trued-up side or edge surface in the pile. I This is essential where the completed pile, which may weigh several tons, is to be handled by cranes employing the usual type of lifting hooks which project several inches under the pile and which must engage the pile or pack fairly and squarely to minimize danger in lifting and subsequent movement by a crane or e of spillage, collapse of pile or pack and possible accident.

These and other difficulties are overcome by means of my invention which, briefly, comprises a bed adapted toreceive the sheets of metal to be piled. A carriage frame is formed beneath the bed and a pair of carriages are slidably mounted in the frame, one at each side of the bed. An aligning head is pivotally connected to each carriage and is actuated by a crank which causes it to move towards and away from the bed. Both of the aligning heads are adapted to engage yieldingly with the sheets being piled. The cranks are actuated simultaneously through individual worms, mounted on a common drive shaft, and worm gears secured to the cranks. The carriages are moved towards and away from each other by a screw shaft to pile various sizes 0 sheets.

Apparatus embodying features of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my machine;

Fig. 2 is a sectional viewtaken along the line "I 11-11 of Fig. 1; and 1 Fig. 3 is a detail view in side elevation of a block forming part of each carriage.

Referring now to the drawing, I show a pair of rails 5 mounted on a plate 6 to form a bed to receive the sheets 7. Two pairs of channels 8 and 9 are secured to the plate 6 to provide a carriageframe for the carriages 11 and 12. Each carriage is formed of two blocks 13 and. 14 which carry a crankshaft 16 and a pivot pin 1'7. Aligning heads 18 and 19 are pivotally connected to each pivot pin 17 by links 20 and are actuated by theirrespective crankshafts through connecting rods 21.

Worm gears 22 and 23 are secured to their respective crankshafts and engage with worms 24 and 26 which are splined on a drive shaft 27. The worm 24'is formed having a left hand thread and the worm 26 has a right hand thread to cause the aligning headsilS and 19 to move towards and away from each other simultaneously. The drive shaft 27 is rotatably mounted in bearings 28 secured to the channels 8 and is driven through gears 29 and 31 by any suitable means (not shown) The carriages may-be moved towards or away from each other for aligning smaller or larger width sheets by means of the screw shafts 32 which are each provided with right and left hand threaded portions 33 and 34 which engage the threaded openings 36 formed in the blocks 13. 85 The screw shafts 32 are connected to each other for simultaneous operation by a link belt 37 and sprockets 38 and are manually operated by means of the handwheel 39.

A plate 41 is provided on each aligning head and disposed between each plate and head are a plurality of springs 42. As the heads 18 and 19 simultaneously approach a pileof sheets, the plates 41 yieldingly engage the pile and maintain the edges even. This feature also provides for slight variations in widths of the sheets.

In operation, the carriages l1 and 12 are moved by the screw shafts 32 to a position in which the distance between the plates 41, as shown in Fig. 1, correspond to the average width of the sheets to be piled. The side edges of the sheets are then aligned by the aligning heads as they are placed on the pile.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it is obvious that minor changes, such as a duplication of the structure to align the four edges of the sheets, may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit there- I of,.and I desire, therefore,'that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for piling metal sheets, a bed adapted to receive the pile of sheets, a pair of spaced oscillating aligning heads adapted to receive the sheets between them to pile them, a pair of carriages for each head, a crank shaft journaled in the pair of carriages at each side of the machine, crank arms connecting said shafts and aligning heads, rocker arms mounted on the carriages and carrying the aligning heads, transverse frame guides on which the carriages are slidably mounted, and a commondrive means for the crank shafts.

2. In a machine for piling metal sheets, a bed adapted to receive the pile of sheets, a pair of spaced oscillating aligning heads adapted to receive the sheets between them to pile them, a

pair of carriages for each head, a crank shaft journaled in the pair of carriages at each side of the machine, crank arms connecting said shafts and aligning heads, rocker arms mounted on the carriages and carrying the aligning heads, transverse frame guides on which the carriages are slidably mounted, a common means to simultaneously adjust the opposed pairs of carriages towards and from each other, and a common drive means for the crank shafts.

3. In a machine for piling metal sheets, a bed adapted to receive the pile of sheets, a pair of spaced oscillating aligning heads adapted to receive the sheets between them to pile them, a pair of carriages for each headhaving a depending yoke to straddle a worm, a transverse drive shaft on which an opposed pair of reversely pitched worms are splined free for axial adjust,- ment, a crank shaft journaled in the pair of carriages at each side of the machine, crank arms connecting said shafts and aligning heads, rocker arms mounted on the carriages and carrying the aligning heads, transverse frame guides on which the carriages are slidably mounted, and a common drive means for the crank shafts comprising worm wheels meshing said worms.

4. In a machine for piling metal sheets, a bed adapted to receive the pile of sheets, a pair of spaced oscillating aligning heads adapted to receive the sheets between them to pile them, a pair of carriages for each head, a crank shaft journaled in the pair of carriages at each side of the machine, crank arms connecting said shafts and aligning heads, rocker arms mounted on the carriages and carrying the aligning heads pivotally mounted thereon, transverse frame guides on which the carriages are slidably mounted, and a common drive means for the crank shafts.

5. In a machine for piling metal sheets, a bed adapted to receive the pile of sheets, a pair of spaced oscillating aligning heads adapted to receive the sheets between them and having yieldable plates outwardly flared at their upper ends and adapted to engage between them the pile of sheets to pile them, a pair of carriages for each head, a crank shaft journaled in the pair of carriages at each side of the machine, crank arms connecting said shafts and aligning heads, rocker arms mounted on the carriages and carrying the aligning heads, transverse frame guides on which the carriages are slidably mounted, and a common drive means for the crank shafts.

6. In a machine for piling metal sheets, a bed adapted to'receive the pile of sheets, a pair of spaced oscillating aligning heads adapted to receive the sheets between them to pile them, a pair of carriages for each head having a depending yoke to straddle a worm, a transverse drive shaft on which an opposed pair of reversely pitched worms are splined free for axial adjustment, a crank shaft journaled in the pair of carriages at each side of the machine, crank arms connecting said shafts and aligning heads, rocker arms mounted on the carriages and carrying the aligning heads pivotally mounted thereon, transverse frame guides on which the carriages are slidably mounted, a common means to simultaneously adjust the opposed pairs of carriages towards and from each other, and a common drive means for the crank shafts comprising worm wheels meshing said worms.

ALBANUS GROOME DELANY. 

